Viewed in retrospect, the life of George Schick, the owner of large
farming interests near Avonhurst, Saskatchewan, presents a thrilling
tale of adventure, the romance of the pioneer days of the northwest and,
like all good stories, a happy ending. But time touches all things with a
gentle hand, and viewed through the soft glow of the golden years of life
events of a generation ago seem altogether different than they did at the
time, to a young man who was facing the world empty-handed. George
Schick fled from the oppression of a military system that darkened the
lives of thousands of young Germans and Austrians during the past half
century or so, only to meet the privations and hardsips of frontier life in
a land where Nature tries the temper of her men before she yields to
them the riches of her earth. It was only by years of hard and unremit-
ting toil, in the face of almost insuperable obstacles, that he and his
wife won the battle against poverty and came into the enjoyment of the
wealth they so fairly earned. The considerable fortune which George
Schick today possesses is the result of his unflinching determination and
extraordinary capacity for labor.
George Schick was born in Posen, Germany, on February 18, 1862, the
only child of Henry and Amelia (Joenz) Schick, who were both natives
of that province and lived there most of their lives, the father following
the occupation of a joiner. Their religious faith was that of the Lutheran
church. Although he lost his parents when he was but twelve years old,
George Schick was fortunate in obtaining an education in the excellent
Gymnasium schools of Germany, which are nearly equivalent to our eight
grades. Following this he was taught the cobbler's trade. Before his
parents died they had moved to Galicia, a part of Austria, so that when
he became of military age George Schick was drafted into the Austrian
army, which, as everyone knows, demanded three years military service
of every able-bodied young man during the days of the old empire. As
the result of several promotions he was a staff sergeant at the time his
three years of compulsory service was ended. After that he remained in
the army for four more years for a premium, but before the time had
expired he became completely disgusted with the stupid rigidity of the
military regime. He tells of an instance, which he regards as typical, in
which he was disciplined for a petty offence which, as a matter of fact,
he had not committed. Coming into his quarters shortly before midnight
one evening, he was censured by the commandant for returning after
twelve o'clock. As he left the room the clock began to strike the hour,
so he returned to justify himself. Such petty tyranny, whatever may have
been its purpose, had not the effect of firing a youth with ambition for a
military career.
During the time he was in the army Mr. Schick came across a pamph-
let setting forth in glowing colors the remarkable opportunities for young
men in the far-away country of Canada. It even stated that boys of eight-
een could obtain a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land as a free
homestead, upon the payment of the trifling sum of ten dollars. In-
spired by this pamphlet Mr. Schick made up his mind to come to the
Dominion and succeeded in accomplishing his purpose in the face of great
odds. He had little money and, moreover, the Austrian government still
laid a claim on him for military duty. This meant that if he went at all
it must be by stealth and unknown to the officials. Buying a ticket, he
proceeded to Lemberg, the former capital of Austria Galicia, thence to
Krakau and on to Bohemia, thence to Karlsbad and from there to Boden-
bach, where he and the young lady who was to become his wife paid their
eight cents toll and walked over the Elizabeth bridge into Germany.
There, safely out of Austria, they exchanged their Austrian money for
German coins and bought tickets through Leipzig to Hamburg, the great
port where they took passage for America.
The two travelers found that their adventures were only beginning
when they arrived in Balgonie, Saskatchewan, in 1894. To begin with
Mr. Schick had only one dollar and fifty cents left at the end of his long
journey, so the problem of providing a living was an urgent one. The
first year he was in Canada he and his wife worked for their board. In
January of 1895 he went to Moose Jaw to get a job as a section hand on
the railway, which paid him a dollar and fifteen cents a day, but from
this sum he had to supply his own board, so his savings did not accumu-
late very rapidly. At the end of eight months, however, he had sufficient
money to buy a set of cobbler's tools, and coming to Regina plied the trade
he had learned as a boy in Austria. Not long afterward he secured a
position in the Indian Industrial School at Lebret, where he remained
until he went on his homestead in the fall of 1896.
Accustomed as Mr. Schick and his wife had become to hardships of
western life by that time, the prospect that greeted them upon their ar-
rival at their homestead site daunted even their courage. The entire tract
was covered with heavy timber and wood, which meant that every acre
of ground for crops would have to be cleared. Mr. Schick says that if he
had had the money to take them back, they would have gone, but as they
were nearly penniless they were forced to stay and make the best of their
situation. He at once set about building a dugout for their winter home
and bought a yoke of oxen on time. A little later he was able to secure
a cow and some household furniture. They lived that winter on the pro-
ceeds of the wood he cut on his land and sold in the market at Regina.
No more vivid picture of the life of these pioneer homesteaders could
be found than Mr. Schick's description of that first winter on the farm.
He began by going into the woods in the morning and cutting a load of
wood from the block. The following day he sawed it into cord wood
loaded it for transportation, while on the third day at two o'clock in the
morning he set out for Regina, on a fifteen-hour journey by ox team.
It was always so late when he 'reached the settlement that he had to stay
over night. There he slept at the house of a widow who rented sleeping
space on her floor at the rate of ten cents a night. For meals he took his
own bread, tea and sugar, to avoid the expense of eating at a restaurant.
The day after his arrival he disposed of his wood at the rate of a dollar
and twenty-five cents a load, getting his pay in "trade." Usually a couple
of neighbors would go with Mr. Schick, so that the three men had com-
panionship on the long, tedious journey, and by pooling their slender
earnings they could buy provisions on the cooperative plan to better ad-
vantage. With the credit they obtained for their wood they would buy a
hundred pounds of flour, which they divided between them upon reaching
home. Ten cents worth of tea apiece. and twenty-five cents worth of
sugar, together with a block of "T. & B." tobacco, which was also divided
into three parts, were other staples regularly purchased. When their
simple business had been thus transacted the three men would set out
for home in the afternoon and arrive about two o'clock in the morning.
This round of wood cutting and marketing was repeated week after week
all winter, in spite of the bitter cold and severe storms. On one occasion
Mr. Schick and his companions narrowly escaped the fate of many unfor-
tunate pioneers, who lost their way in the snow and died of exposure
almost at their doors. Coming home from Regina late one night, they
were overtaken by a heavy storm and when they reached home were un-
able to locate the dugout. Fortunately for them they drove over the dug-
out twice with their ox team, arousing Mrs. Schick, who then came to
the door and called to them, guiding them to the entrance by her cries.
The first spring Mr. Schick had enough ground cleared to put in a small
crop and each successive spring thereafter found a larger acreage ready
for planting, until finally the whole homestead was well improved and
under a good state of cultivation.
From time to time Mr. Schick had bought more land to add to his
homestead until he now owns seven and a quarter sections of excellent im-
proved agricultural land. He has all the latest steam driven machinery
necessary for large-scale farming and keeps four outfits going most of
the time, employing a considerable number of men. As a bonanza farmer
he made a notable success, his fortune being estimated at six hundred
thousand dollars. At the same time he has been developing his farms
along lines that will endure through the future decades, when a more
intensive method of farming will inevitably supplant the present system.
A number of full-blooded stallions are to be found among his herd of
thirty-five horses and many of his forty head of horned cattle are pure
bred. While in the States, in the winter of 1919, he attended the stock
show in Chicago, where he bought a carload of pure-bred horses, three
stallions and five mares, which are doing much to raise the standard of
the farm animals on his own farms and are of benefit to stock raisers
throughout the neighborhood. His home is still the old homestead near
Avonhurst, his post office address, and he devotes most of his time to his
agricultural interests. In his neighborhood, however, he represents the
John Deere Plow Company and the Great West Saddlery Company and
does a little business in real estate.
Shortly after arriving in Canada, in Edenwold, Mr. Schick and the
young lady who had accompanied him on his flight from Europe, were
united in marriage and have since been sharing the fruits of their earlier
labors, as well as the hardships of pioneer life. Before her marriage Mrs.
Schick was Miss Mary Janz, a native of Austria. She is the mother of
eleven children, seven of whom are living: Mrs. Lizzie (Schick) Markee~
now connected with the telephone system of Detroit, Mich.; Maggie, the
wife of Mr. Uppenheimer, a farmer; and Henry, Johnnie, Rudolph, Mary
and Helen, who still live at home. Mr. Schick has been able to give each
of his children a good education as they have grown to maturity, and
Mrs. Uppenheimer was a teacher before her marriage. The family at-
tend the Lutheran church.
A well educated man himself, Mr. Schick has always taken a deep in-
terest in educational matters and has given his hearty support to the work
of the public schools. He is now chairman of his local school board and
served as a delegate to the meetings of the school trustees of the province
for three successive years, at Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw. He
also served for five years in the municipality of South Qu'Appelle and
since 1914 has held a commission for the administration of oaths. Like
many of the educated people of Central Europe, Mr. Schick is a linguist
of ability, speaking six different languages. He was more than thirty
years old before he ever heard a word of English, but he secured a book
and studied the language thoroughly from the grammatical side, as well
as learning to talk from hearing those about him converse, so that now he
is a master of that difficult tongue.
In looking back over the past thirty years Mr. Schick finds no reason
to regret his step in coming to America. While the difficulties he encoun-
tered and the hardships he had to endure were far greater than the most
vivid creations of his imagination before he left Austria, he thinks that
his gains have more than repaid him for any effort they may have cost.
Not only has he become a comparatively rich man, but he has had the
joy of working out his own destiny in a country of democratic traditions,
unhampered by any distinctions of class or burdens of militarism and au-
tocracy. Now he and Mrs. Schick are enjoying some of the fruits of their
labors. Not only do they have a well kept, modern home, with all the com-
forts and conveniences, but they are free to spend a part of the year in
travel, and have enjoyed two winters in the milder climate and amid the
new scenes of the United States.
Bibliography follows:

George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick, George Schick,
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